January 25, 2006

Now, Frank Pino says he’s uneasy about "being on MTV." And yet. He had to beat out tough competition for the gig — a pool that is rumored to have included Boston alt-rockers Brett Rosenberg and Juliana Hatfield. Asked about his audition, Frank uses the word "sketchy" a lot. "I had my fists up," he says, but quickly adds that the ensuing process has disarmed his cynicism: tutoring Alexa, he says, has been like discovering a long-lost 16-year-old daughter who wanted to follow in his footsteps.

"When we first started making records, it was psychedelic '60s pop stuff, real cinematic, [with] more bizarre arrangements," he says from Honolulu, where he's just begun the latest tour behind The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl), Of Montreal's most recent and best album. "When I first got into recording my own stuff, this whole world opened up for me. It's my escape from the boredom of life."

"By a fluke of circumstances, 'Let It Die' ended up being half originals and half covers," Feist says. "And the originals are the ones I found some real threads to hold onto over the last two years of touring and they have never fallen off by the wayside and ended up on the set list floor. And so probably songs like 'Let It Die' and 'Gatekeeper' and 'Mushaboom' -- the ones that I wrote -- I think have similarities with what is destined to come for the next record."

What drew indie-rock acolytes and grizzled rock-show pros alike from their vinyl-lined tombs? I mean, the Silver Jews show is still a month away—what gives? I’ll tell you what. New traveling Turner South show Music Road, hosted by Southern pop rocker Edwin McCain, didn’t waste much time finding its way to Athens. This live-music program hits various hotspot venues around the South, showcasing the region’s finest—if not most high-profile—musicians and songwriters, and tonight’s lineup sets the bar Olympic-finalist high with Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, Drive-By Truckers and Phosphorescent, plus local favorites Don Chambers & Goat, Chesnutt’s niece Liz Durrett and members of Hope For A Golden Summer.